Method of hullling, washing, and drying of grain, with simultaneous screening



March 1953 A. c. DAMAN METHODS OF HULLING, WASHING, AND DRYING OF GRAIN,WITH SIMULTANEOUS SCREENING Filed Aug. 25, 1947 JVI/ENTOR: ART/10R CDAMA/v BY H15 A TTORNEYS /5, H501; FBJTEMHARR/s Patented Mar. 31, 1953METHOD OF HULLING, WASHING, AND DRY- WITH SIMULTANEOUS ING F GRAIN,SCREENING Arthur 0. Daman, Denver, Colo., assignor to Mining Process andPatent Company, Denver, 0010., a corporation of Colorado ApplicationAugust 23, 1947, Serial No. 770,211

18 Claims. (Cl. 146221.6)

Thisinvention relate to methods for the dry treatment of grain such aswheat, whereby to prepare the grain for milling or other conversion intofood stuffs.

I The invention is particularly applicable to the hulling of wheat fortheremoval of the outer integumentor bran layer Without rupture of thekernels themselves.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a method for theremoval of bran from wheat kernels, or the removal of correspondingouter coverings from similar grains, by a dry process particularlyadapted for operation without the employment of water except as asubsequent washing step.

Another important object of the invention is to provide for the hullingof wheat and the like by only a vibrating action to effect the actualloosening of the outer bran layer from the various kernels.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method by meansof which Wheat may be continuously hulled, the loosened bran separatedfromthe hulled kernels, such kernels being also freed from small, heavy,foreign materials, washed'free of adhering foreign materials, andquickly dried in preparation for milling, packag ing, or other desireddisposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a process by means ofwhich contact objects, such as balls, associated with the grain beingtreated are relied upon in conjunction with the mentioned vibratingaction to effect cracking or splitting and loosening of the grain hullsfrom the kernels without rupture of the kernels themselves.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a hulling processemploying pressure in conjunc tion with a plurality of contact objectsto accomplish cracking or splitting of the hulls, and loosening of thehulls from the kernels during vibration, it being a more specific objectto rely upon the weight of the column of the grain to furnish therequired pressure which effects the necessary hull splitting under theinfluence of the vibration imparted to the column of grain and contactobjects.

A more particular object, which is of overall importance in connectionwith a treatment of this type, is to start with dry grain as normallysupplied for grain treating purposes, remove the hulls from the drygrain, separate foreign materials from the hulled grain, and furnish theproduct in thoroughly dry form for future handling.

Other objects and various features of the inthe art upon reference tothe following 5138011103,. tion and the accompanying drawin wherein one.embodiment of the invention is disclosed for the purpose ofexemplification. a

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating some! What diagrammatically anapparatus constructed in accordance with the invention and representingthe novel process;

Fig. 2 is a cross section indicating a as one of the contact objects;

Fig. 3 is a cross section indicating a rubber ball with a metallic coreas one of the contact objects;

Fig. 4 is an elevational detail showing suspension means for a tablemounting carrying the vibratory mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional detail indicat ing the drive means bywhich the required vibration is effected; and

Fig. 6 indicates a modified means for providing the grain column.

The form of the invention illustrated comprisesa generally horizontallydisposed flat support; such as a screen Ill of suitable mesh,whichconstitutes a surface upon which rests a column l2 of grain to behulled, such as Wheat, which column is established by and containedwithin a vertically disposed cylinder [4. The cylinder [4 may besectional and telescopic as illustrated, both sections shown beingvertically adjustable by separate means, such as rack and pinion devicesMa illustrated. The cylinder it is open, at its lower end in order toexpose the column of grain to the screen 16 or other flat support used,and it is also open at its upper end to receive grain' rubber ball froma feed chute l5 adapted to be supplied from:

any appropriate source. such as a storage bin;

An important agent in the operation of the process is a pluralityof'contact bodies, illus trated as rubber balls I6, which are disposedinthe lower end of the grain column I2. These balls, which may be ofsolid, heavy rubber as indicated in Fig. 2, or kindred resilientmaterial, or may contain a metal core Ilia as indicated in Fig. 3,maintain themselves in the lower portion of the grain column I 2 or atany appropriate operative level during the hulling operation. They areemployed in such numbers as required to effect the desired result, andmay constitute, for

example, two or more layers of balls, approxi mately as illustrated. i

The upper end of the flat support, underthe cylinder I4, may be eitheran extension of the screen H! or a perforate or imperforate plate l1?upon which the grain and balls [6 rest. Some-i timesit is ,not essentialto .havethe grain abso.;

lutely dry, and in such cases a light water spray may be applied at thetop of the grain column l2 as by a spray head [8, or a heavy water washif required.

The vibratory action of the screen It), as presently to-be more: fullydescribed, results in the movement of thekernel's of grain and thehulls,such as bran, which have been removed therefrom, out from under thelower edge of the cylinder M. This movement maybe. eiiected. solelythrough the vibrating action-produced; ormay be facilitated by a slightinclination in the screen It! in the direction of desired travel. Thescreen I!) may be of such mesh that'small solids, including small,broken pieces of grain, may pass therethrough. The whole grain layer andthe hulls then travel under an elongated suctienhmd 2! disposedtransversely of the screen IB suction.

being accomplished through an upstandingsuction pipe 22 leading to asuction fan or any other type of suction device.Branzand'other'lightrconstituents are. removed from the. grain. layer;on the screen was the grain-passes undenthe. hood 20. The grain, freedfrom..hullsandntherrnorn adherent foreign material, continues? to.travel along the. screen. and then passes under a spray of; water"which: is: supplied bya water line 23 andissues from any type ofelongated spray head 24, such as the perforated pipes shown. Leavingthe-spray head: 24; the washed graimnowiree from powdery and flakymaterials-and. water soluble materials, is passed under a dryingdevice,which is shown as a hot air blower hood 2'5 supplied with hot air.through a feed: pipe 26 leading" from any'mechanism adapted to supplysuitably heated air under appropriate pressure. The. heated: air: passesover and. around the wet or. damp grain moying'alongithe screen [33,there. by drying the grain, the moisture aneLai-r passing through thescreenand being disposed ofas desired. A perforated spreader plate 21'located in-andntermediate portion ofthe hood properly. distributes. theheated air passing to the. moist grain.

In the-form-of structure illustrated, the-solid and liquidmaterialwillfallonto atable. 3i and discharge from. the nearest end: seen inFig. l, andescaping air may issuefrom the same end of. the table 30 andthrough the meshes of. the screenv HJ-in. the vicinityof the blowerhoodi25;

Thescreen H) isv carried upon. the table 3tv through the medium; of:sidewalls. 3 l. upstanding from. the-table. 3.6.

With respectito the construction of. the. table:

3 6. mounting. of; the. screen I0. therein, and the mounting of thepartsfor therequired vibratory. movementysuch. is accomplished byappropriate-- ly securing and positioning the screen iii upon the table-30- so thatv vibration. of. the table 36 will be-desirablyimparted tothescreen to. For;

this purpose, anelongated angle plate 32-.ispro-- vided. along eachofthe side walls 3|, the respective plate. 32. being secured in positionby standard carriage bolts 33 ,or thelike. To stretch this screen I0,the lower: edge of each angle plate. 32: is provided with a flange whichengagesiin' folded reinforcing means 34 secured. to the respective edgeof the screen, this folded means 34- resting. upon a correspondingelongated, bracket plate 35 secured to the adjacent side wall 31, as bywelding or otheruuse'. Thus, when.

the. two angle plates: 32 are drawninto position, the edges or. thescreen [.0 are tensioned and. bound. against the bracket plates 35. Forthe: purpose of. maintaining desirable operative positioni'ng'; of: themedian portions of the screen .4 I0, elongated rubber cushions 36,carried upon the upper edges of elongated angle bars 38, may be used,the bars 38 being positioned with respect to the table 30 as desired.Should camber be required in the median portion of the screen [6 wherebyto insure proper disposition of the moving, hulled grain, theupper'faces of the rubber cushions 36 will be correspondingly elevated.

Thetable 3.0. is mounted for vibration by havi'ngit'sxsid'e walls. 3- Iiappropriately secured to main side plates146', as"by bolts 4|. Asillustrated, the upper edges of the main side plates 40 are convenientlyprovided with outwardly directed flanges 42;, and the lowermost cornersat the opposite ends of the apparatus are properly spaced by" means of.tie-rods 43 appropriately attached thereto.

For the purpose of mounting the main side plates 40 to accommodate thevibratory motion required to be. imparted. thereto and hence tothe-tableiiifl and. the. screen I6, theouter face-of eachend portion ofeach. main. plate 40 has. secured thereto an open-front rectangular boxbracket45 having aback wall 46 welded or bolted to the respective main.side plate 40. Eachbracket 45 projects; loosely into a rectangular frame4! which is open at thebactzand may be open at the front. The lower'endof the frame 4'! is provided with: ears 48 by means of which itisboltedto an appropriate"basemember49.

The top bar 41a of each fram'e 41 carries. a suspension rod 50-which issuspended: therefrom by means of lock nuts- 52 secured" onv its upperthreaded end. The rod 50, in each instance, depends within therespective frame 41, passing through boththe upper; andthel lower endsof therespective box.bracket.45.. Withineach box bracket 45 and disposedaround theisuspension rod 50 is a supporting spring 54 upon which rests.the upper wall: of, theboxbracket45, whereby thecorresponding cornerofthe vibratory structure is supported. This weight is; transmittedthrough thespring; 54 to the suspension rod. 50 and thencetothe-respectiveframe 41' by way of a rubber cushion55 (Fig. 4)disposediina retainer cup 5.6 resting upona mounting. 58 fixed upon thelower end of the rod 50 and reciprocably positioned within acorresponding open- 7 ing inthe lower. end Wall of. they respective boxbracket 45 Thus, the vibratory structure consisting ofthe mainside:plates 49.; the table 3.0, and its upstand ing side wallsv 3!, togetherwith the. screen [0, 18 carried upon four. springs15 lw supportedfromfour frames; 41 which in turn. rest upon four appropriate base. members49. By thiscmounting means, vibratory motion is readily permitted, asuitable pendulum effect being provided which results in avoidance ofthe. transmission of destructive vibration and provides only for thatvibration of small amplitude which. is required for the presentpurpose.-

To efiect the required vibration, a motor 60 carried upon any suitablesupport Blisemployed to drive a V'-belt 12' passing over a-driven pulley63 mounted alongside afly wheel 64 upon one end of a vibration producingshaft 65. The shaft 65 is mounted at each end inbearings-66, Fig. 5,carried in the side walls 3| of the table 30 and in the main side platesto which the side walls 3| are bolted as above described. The middlesection of the'shaft 65' is provided with an eccentrically disposedelongated portion 61' having but slight eccentricity and capableofproducing high speed vibration of very'small amplitude Operation Thevibratory mechanism, comprised of the screen Hi, the table 30, and themain side plates 40, is vibrated; through the medium of the motor 60 andthe drive shaft 65, as above indicated. to

yield vibration of very small amplitude and high;-

rate, proper transmission of this vibration being permitted by themounting of the box brackets 45 upon the spring 54 carried on thesuspension rods 50 and supported upon the frame 4'! disposed at thecorners of the apparatus.

A number of the contact objects, such as the rubber balls 16illustrated, are disposed upon the screen In or the plate IT, as thecase may be, and in the lower portion of the cylinder [4 to produce asmany layers as required to effect the desired result, and grain, such aswheat, is fed continuously through the chute I5 to maintain the graincolumn 12 as a head of proper value to provide the pressure upon theballs is necessary to effect splitting or other appropriate rupture ofthe grain hulls, without, however, rupturing or crushing the kernelsthemselves. The balls 15 may be of different sizes best calculated toproduce the necessary function. For

example, balls one-half inch in diameter, or two inches in diameter, oreven larger diameter, perhaps up to six inches may be employed, thelarger sizes being used especially in conjunction with the employment ofballs of varying sizes,

such as those of one-half inch and one inch diameters. Spacing of thecylinder [4 from the screen I Bis such that, as the screen I0 isvibrated, the lowermost grain is caused to pass under the lower edge ofthe cylinder l4 together with the bran or other hulls which have beendetached by the vibratory action. Such spacing may be regulated byadjustment of the lower section of the cylinder l4 by its rack andpinion device l4a. Adjustment of the upper cylinder section through itsrack and pinion devicel4a may be employed in establishing the properheight'of the grain column l2 for any given grain being hulled. Ifdesirable, the grain column i2 may be formed by a rectangular hopper 10,Fig, 6, transversely disposed across the screen it) and'aifording amouth of uniform di mensions both laterally and longitudinally of thescreenm:

Continued vibration causes the grain and hulls to advance toward thesuction hood 20. During this interval, small, solid particles, such asgrit and small broken pieces of grain, pass through the screen 10, themesh of which, however, is small enough to retain full size grain. Asthe hulled grain and hulls pass under the suction hood. 20, the hullsare drawn upward adhering powdery materials and water solublesubstances. The water falls through the meshes of the screen it) ontothe table 30 and the continued vibration after the grain leaves thespray causes water droplets to be shaken ofi. The remaining thin waterfilm is removed by the warm or hot air blast as the grain passes underthe hood 25. The hulled, dried grain is then delivered from the screenill to any receiver which may be a chute, a conveyor belt, or otherstructure as preferred. While the structure disclosed signifies thatwash water and other materials passing through the screen [0 aredelivered from the nearest end of the table 30, it is obvious that otherdispositions may be made as desired. Separate means for disposal mightbe provided for the air leaving the hood 25 in order that the air blastmight not interfere with the water flow issuing from the spray head 24or otherwise interfere with any of the operations. From the standpointof the vibrating screen to be used in connection with the hulling andcleaning method disclosed, a structure which may be employed isavailable on the market under the trade name of Denver-Dillon VibratingScreen manufactured by the Denver Equipment Company.

From the foregoing description it is evident that various grains, suchas wheat, rice, barley, oats, and rye may be hulled in their originaldry condition, by the simple expedient of vibrating a grain column ofsuitable head with appropriate rubber balls IE or similar balls, thecolumn of balls and grain being rested upon a convenient, vibratedsupporting surface such as the screen In or the plate l1. Also, thegrain having been hulled and having advanced from the bottom of thegrain column 12, the hulls and other light materials are separated as bysuction, and the hulled grain washed to eliminate undesired foreignmatter on the surfaces of the kernels and quickly dried before dischargefrom the apparatus.

Withsome grains it is suflicient to maintain an adequate height of thegrain column 12 without employment of the balls it or similar objects,and rely entirely upon the vibration and the pressure of the head ofgrain to effect the cracking or splitting of the grain hulls. Forexample, where the hulls of a particular grain require a prior soakingor other heavy water treat-- ment to accomplish adequate splitting, suchwill be effected.

Inasmuch as many variations of the genericinvention herein disclosedwill become apparent splitting and loosening of the grain hulls uponvibration of the rain with said objects; vibrat-' ing said column ofgrain and said objects to rup-' ture and loosen the hulls of kernels ofgrain adjacent said objects; and removing from the column that portionof the grain whose hulls have been split and loosened.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein the unhulled grain in said column isdry grain, and the contact objects have surfaces which arenon-rupturable during the hulling treatment.

vibration, of: said column. and. following removal. of: the: hulled.grain. from said column...

4.. A method; as: in claim; 1. including the.additionalystep of,separating the loosened hulls. from. the: removed grainbeing hulled;

51A. method as in clainrl wherein; grain and hulls.- are continuouslyremovedv from the: bottom ofxthe column andunhulled grain. is;continuously added to. the; top; of the column in quantity'to; maintain;sufficienti pressure upon grain; in. contact. withtsaid. objects tocause; said hulls to be cracked. during vibration, th grain. kernelsre.- mainingintact;

6.. A, methodas; in claim 1' whereinisaid surface isi'caused to; move-bysaidvibrationand the re-. moval of? grain. and hulls is: effected from.the bottom of: said column. under infiuenceof said vibration assaidsurface moves.

' 7?. A method as in claim 1' wherein said surface is caused to move bysaid vibration and" the removalof 'grainand hullsis eifected from thebottom of said column under influence of" said vibration as said surfacemoves, said larger contact objects remaining in I the column in contactwith descending grain.

8. A method for hulling grain comprising: establishing a column of'unhulled grain upon a surface capable of bein vibrated to move thegrain; providing in the lower portion of the column in contact withgrain therein a plurality of objects capable of causing'rupture of thehulls of the contacted grain upon vibration of said surface and columnwithout rupturing the grain kernels; vibrating said surface andsimultaneously supplying pressure on the grain to effect rupture of saidgrain hulls while avoiding rupture of the grain kernels; and causingruptured hulls and their grain kernels to escape from the bottom of saidcolumn under influence of the vibration of said surface;

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein said objects are smooth surfaced andavoid damage of the grain kernels, and pressure is applied thereto andto grain being hulled by the weight of the.

column of grain and objects to cause splitting of the hulls of kernelsin contact'with said objects.

10. A method for hulling grain comprising: establishing a column ofunhulled grain; supplying in a portion of said grain column a pluralityof contact objects in contact with the grain, said.

objects having smooth surfaces which: remainsmooth during the treatment;vibrating'the. portion. of said column containing said contact objects;and maintaining suflicient pressure on the,

grain contacted by said objects to cause the hulls.

of said grain to be cracked loose by such vibration and pressure whilemaintaining whole the individual kernels of grain themselves.

11. A method as in claim 10 wherein said pressure isaccomplished by thehead of grain constituti'ng the column.

12. A method as in claim 10 wherein said contact; objects are maintainedin the lower portion off-said column,- and wherein cracked hulls and therespective grain. kernels are removed from the.- bottom of the column.

. 13. Amethod as in claim;101wherein.said con. tact objects aremaintained in the lower portion.

. being. continuously addedto the upper-portion of the column to.maintain the column.

14. A methodforhulling grain comprising: establishing upon a.substantially flat supporting surface a column of" dry grain to behulled; commingling with the dry grain in the lower portion. of saidcolumn a plurality of smooth surfaced objects which are larger than thegrain kernels and remain whole during the treatment; vibrating saidsupporting surface While establishing a sufiicient weight uponsaid-lower-portion to cause the dryhulls of the grain to split andbecome loosened under the vibrating action inthe presence of saidobjects; and causing hulled grain and hulls therefrom to pass" fromthelower per-- tion of-said column.

15. A method as in claim 14 wherein said objects have rubber surfacescontacting said grain.

16. A method as in claim 14 wherein said hulls and hulled grain passingfrom said column are passed into a suction zone wherein said hulls areseparated from the hulled grain by suction.

17. A method as in claim 14 including the additional step of separatingthe hulls'from hulled grew.

18. A method as in' claim 14. including the additional steps of,separating the hulls from hulled grain, washing the hulled grain, dryingthe washed grain, and screening the grain during all of the steps.

ARTHUR C. DAMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The.- following references are of record in the fileof. this patent:

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